Madonna wants to tell her own story. The “Material Girl” singer is the writer and director behind her upcoming feature-length biopic . It will follow the early days of her prolific career, including her iconic Blonde Ambition tour.
In a new interview with Variety , she shared that she wants to be the one to tell her life story — not “misogynistic men.”
The Queen of Pop will soon become the Queen of film.
Madonna and Universal Pictures first announced the upcoming biopic in September 2020. Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Donna Langley won the script after a multi-studio bidding war. Amy Pascal is set to produce.
Madonna will be the one to write and direct the long-awaited film.
She has some history with this, as she previously directed the movies W.E. and Filth and Wisdom . She will also get some help from Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody.
It will reportedly follow the singer’s early days, which ultimately culminate with Madonna’s 1990 Blonde Ambition tour.
As for who will play the lead role of Madonna, that role was reportedly given to Julia Garner of Ozark and Inventing Anna fame.
She reportedly beat out Florence Pugh, ‘Euphoria’ star Alexa Demie, and Odessa Young.
Since the film will heavily focus on music and dancing, casting director Carmen Cuba led a boot camp with the final five actresses up for the role of Madonna.
They reportedly went through 11-hour choreography sessions each day with Madonna and her personal choreographer.
In addition to Julia, Julia Fox ( Uncut Gems , PVT Chat , and No Sudden Move ) is rumored to play Madonna’s longtime friend and fellow actress Debi Mazar .
In the announcement for the film, Madonna wrote that said she hoped to “convey the incredible journey that life has taken me on as an artist, a musician, a dancer — a human being, trying to make her way in this world.”
“The focus of this film will always be music,” she continued.
RELATED STORIES
“Music has kept me going and art has kept me alive.”
“There are so many untold and inspiring stories and who better to tell it than me. It’s essential to share the roller coaster ride of my life with my voice and vision.”
The Grammy-award winner has given several updates on the film since then.
“It’s a pretty crazy experience so far, I’m just in the writing process, and just deciding which stories to tell, how much detail to go into, which characters to develop,” Madonna shared to the Associated Press.
“It’s really been a long and arduous process, but it’s been really therapeutic as well.”
She has written several Grammy-winning songs, so there should be no doubt that she’ll do the script justice.
Langley has even praised Madonna as “the ultimate icon, humanitarian, artist and rebel.”
Now, the singer has revealed why she’s the one making her own biopic.
In an interview with Variety , she began by sharing the status of the script. “I have a very long script that is really hard for me to make shorter. I’ve been whittling away at it, but it’s like hacking off my limbs.”
“It was also a pre-emptive strike because a lot of people were trying to make movies about me,” she added.
“Mostly misogynistic men. So I put my foot in the door and said, ‘No one’s going to tell my story but me.’”
Then, she shared that she decided to make the film herself as a way to stop “mostly misogynistic men” from making a movie about her.
“I’ve had an extraordinary life, I must make an extraordinary film,” the artist shared with the publication.
This isn’t the first time the “Material Girl” singer has spoken out against men trying to take control of her life.
During an October 2021 appearance on “ The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ,” Madonna said that studios once tried to have her life story directed by a man who had “no understanding of women.”
“I’m not even gonna say his name, but he’s a total misogynist [and he] was directing and I’m looking, ‘Why would these people make a movie about my life?’” she added.
“There’s nothing true in the script, the guy who’s making it has no understanding of women. No appreciation for women. No respect for women.”
She continued on, sharing that this has happened a couple of times in her life.
“I had to like call people up — call up the heads of studios, call up my agents — threaten them and say that I will stand in front of the building and protest and make everybody’s life a misery if they go through with it.”
“And they still did not take me seriously,” she concluded. “So finally I just threw down the gauntlet.”
A movie isn’t the only place where Madonna is trying to take ownership of her incredible life’s work.
In the interview with Variety , she also shared why she refuses to sell her music.
If she did, she would be like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks, and Tina Turner, who all recently sold the rights to their recordings and songwriting catalogs.
But Madonna wants no part of that — not now, not ever.
Why? “They’re my songs. Ownership is everything, isn’t it?” she said.
This gives her all the freedom she needs to accomplish the dreams she has of introducing her music to a new generation.
“I’m just looking for interesting, fun ways to rerelease my catalog and introduce my music to a new generation,” she told Variety.
“I’m focused on that and I’ve been writing a screenplay for my film for the last couple of years.”
“The whole thing with ‘Frozen’ was so fun, but I woke up one day and went, “I’m sick of living in the past!” I want to go on tour again, I’m a creature of the stage. That is my happy place.”
H/T: Variety